twelve in fourteen

one aspect of applying for opportunities is unsuccess. it’s something we all know and all accept. in the beginning it’s all too easy to get down about it.

this morning over on the corridor arts Facebook profile channel i saw an image expressing that process in a diagram form, from an established artist. it was a huge revelation, someone i perceive as being beyond the emotional complexity of rejection putting something out there that suggests that it’s just the same, even when there has been much success.

and it’s success that makes all the difference.

i’ve been successful in one of the recent applications. on behalf of the corridor arts iniative i applied for a go and see bursary. it was a team effort and it’ll be a team benefit when we go and see a group in preparing for a project funding application for an outdoor project. i think there will be further news of this very soon.

i worked hard in the first two months of the year to make the applications and having a success is such a boost. and the process continues.

i’ve found another two opportunities to add to the one i knew of before christimas. the new two are developmental opportunities that don’t initially carry monitary gain, however for my practice offer a step towards realising a new body of work. one of the two is offering help with developing the successful applicant’s ideas and helping with a gfa application. this is a slow burn however i see this is an attractive opportunity and with hard work it has the potential to develop into something benefical for all connected with it.

additionally at the local pub level it looks like i’ve picked up yet another opportuntity to make something. the ambition of this project is quite something and there is the desire from the commissioning group to do it properly and pay me for my time to realise their brief. this will involve a yet to be made funding application and i’m really comfortable with that as i’ve overcome the inherent urge to be doing something next week and how that blinds me to longer term opportunities.

i’ve been reminded of how things do take time to come to fruition by wandering down sadler gate in derby. i was part of a group that did some artistic endeavours in that place in 2009. there was a kind of management structure for the street whose job it was to reinvigorate the street by attracting in their desired shops. now in 2014 sadler gate is starting to look something like the management imagined back in 2009.

i started this post with a focus on unsuccess of applying. on reflection the process of unsuccess is as important to the practice as the research and making of the work. i state this because in the process of applying it’s a chance to air the thoughts and ideas behind something new. it’s risky because it stands to be unsuccessful but then for a moment stop and think about how many attempted works are unsuccessful in the studio too. in the studio we take what we have learnt and re-apply the knowledge. i can see now that the same can be said for the process of applying for opportunities.

an argument … oh monty python where are you now … (video below to what i am thinking about.)

monty python showing that an argument can be fun.

oh bimble off into lah lah land of waffle and lovelyness while i wonder what to write about in this post. i do amaze myself sometimes. thoughts abound of what i’ll write and rather like a bottle of bubble solution having achieved the intention of the contents the contents are gone.

i’ve tried not thinking, however this is quite dull.

what is fun for you?

what is fun for me is the basis of one of the waiting to be considered applications. several times this year i’ve heard it said that it needs to be fun, in relation to a process. it’s readily associated with children and young adults, however can it still apply to an older generation. what is it about having fun that’s so bad?

monty python show that it’s possible to have fun with words.

thoughts of david shrigley having fun with visual art.

so does the need for intellectual concerns within visual art rather stifle the possibility of fun? in asking this, am i setting up an intellectual concern?

in processing the images for this post i saw that the more information in the picture, the more there was setting up internal reactions and questions. by leaving out things the questioning was reduced.

titling … for ages i’ve been aware of how the title leads the audience. in titling the image untitled merely helps to reassure the audience that i have considered a title and i’ve chosen to leave out any additional information.

i’m asking the images to be looked at for what they are.

we all react to our art experiences by the boundaries of our own life experiences.

is this a benefit of visual communication over verbal. considering the monty python sketch, there’s a subtle layer of intelligence in the script that i think has a clear dividing line… and i’m assured by the song that there always is a dividing line …. ummm wether to add that video link …. to that particular life experience for me …?

the Argument Clinic by monty python